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Archives for January 2022

Henry E. Hayne represented the promise of Reconstruction. Why don’t we know more about him?

John Fea   |  January 24, 2022

Robert Greene II and Tyler D. Parry are trying to correct that. Here is a taste of their piece on Hayne at The Washington Post: In 1872, Hayne became South Carolina’s secretary of state. This elective position probably provided him […]

How the debate over CRT has led three states to alter their history standards

John Fea   |  January 24, 2022

This is an important study: Education Week reviewed hundreds of standards and thousands of pages of public comment relating to the standards-writing processes in South Dakota, Louisiana, and New Mexico, all of which took up revisions in 2021, and interviewed […]

Stanford’s Jack Rakove is the latest historian to critique the 1619 Project

John Fea   |  January 24, 2022

Tom Mackaman of the World Socialist Web Site is back with another interview. Here is a taste of his conversation with Stanford’s Jack Rakove: TM: You mentioned it before, and we will need to turn to the 1619 Project, whose […]

There was a pro-life AND a pro-choice rally in D.C. last weekend. I’ll bet a lot of people were at both.

John Fea   |  January 24, 2022

The March for Life got all the attention, but I’ll bet a lot of the marchers stayed in D.C. for this: And there was a Kennedy involved. Read more here.

Evangelical roundup for January 24, 2021

John Fea   |  January 24, 2022

What is happening in Evangelical land? Are evangelicals changing their views on abortion? The court evangelicals who are part of Trump’s “National Faith Advisory Board” are marching for life: The evangelicals who think they are guardians of the Jewish faith. […]

It’s Time to Celebrate Jury Duty

Elizabeth Stice   |  January 24, 2022

Are you looking for a badge of honor? This one gleams brighter than we know.

Sunday night odds and ends

John Fea   |  January 23, 2022

A few things online that caught my attention this week: “…when it comes to abortion, the left can speak of personal choice in overly simplistic ways” Reading the classics with love Wilt, Joe, or Simone? Christian horror movies Early American […]

I barely recognize the Republican Party of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “economic girley men” GOP Convention speech in 2004

John Fea   |  January 23, 2022

When Schwarzenegger gave this speech he was about eleven months into his first term as the 38th Governor of California. It is about the American dream, immigration, opportunity, and political and economic freedom. There is no culture war rhetoric in […]

Evangelicals discuss abortion

John Fea   |  January 23, 2022

All of these participants–Elaina Ramsey, Shane Claiborne, Andrea Lucado, Jerushah Duford, Tatiana Torres, Rob Schenck, Randall Balmer, Ron Sider, and Lisa Sharon Harper–identify as evangelical Christians. Rob Schenck’s remarks are especially revealing and powerful:

What is popular this week at Current?

John Fea   |  January 22, 2022

Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Jeremy Sabella, “The Tower of Babel and The American Experiment“ Adam Jortner, “Have Mercy John Fea, “Stop Wasting Your Time Trying to Define Evangelicalism“ Katherine Lucky, “The Streets of Silicon […]

Kirsten Powers: Biden is neither “failing” nor “flailing”

John Fea   |  January 22, 2022

I’m with Powers here. A taste of her recent piece at CNN: What drives much of the “presidency in peril” coverage is Biden’s approval ratings. CNN’s poll of polls, released Thursday, found that 41% of Americans approve of the way Joe […]

University of Rhode Island revokes honorary doctorates

John Fea   |  January 22, 2022

Here is CBS News: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will no longer hold honorary degrees from the University of Rhode Island, the school announced Friday. The Board of Trustees and the president […]

Trump was planning to use the military to seize voting machines following the 2020 election

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

Politico got access to some of the materials from the National Archives that were recently turned over to the January 6, 2021 House of Representative select committee. Among the papers was a Trump executive order directing the Department of Defense […]

Thabiti Anyabwile riles the fundamentalists

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

Fundamentalists are fighters. They stage a militant defense of the faith from their bunker-like fiefdoms dominated by powerful masculine leaders. They see the world in black and white and will turn on anyone who dares depart from what they believe […]

College and university faculty members are disengaging

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

Here is a taste of Kevin R. McClure and Alisa Hicklin Fryar’s recent Chronicle of Higher Education piece, “The Great Faculty Disengagement.” Sadly, I can relate to some of it: …most faculty members aren’t making big job moves. For them, the Great […]

The House select committee on January 6th would do well to have some historians on its staff

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

Earlier this week the Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump’s request to stop the January 6th committee from obtaining access to White House records related to the insurrection. The National Archives has sent the material to the House and the committee […]

“Bebbington but”

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

Ryan Hoselton, a postdoctoral instructor at the University of Heidelberg, asks a good question about my feature today at Current: Perhaps “Bebbington but” is the best way to define evangelicalism. I still use Bebbington when I define the term in […]

Song of the Day

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

The Author’s Corner with Samantha Seeley

Rachel Petroziello   |  January 21, 2022

Samantha Seeley is Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond. This interview is based on her new book, Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States (Omohundro Institute and University of […]

Stop Wasting Your Time Trying to Define Evangelicalism

John Fea   |  January 21, 2022

Those invested in this project engage in an impossible task

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